How to make a 35 watt solar panel out of broken solar cells

Intro

Solar cells are fragile things and if you've ever worked with them, you've probably broken one or two. Maybe you've been tinkering around with some of the cool DIY solar projects we've featured before and ended up with a few broken cast-offs in the process. Maybe you ordered a pack of solar cells and a good bunch arrived broken. Or maybe you couldn't resist the deal on a big lot of damaged solar cells on Ebay and now you need something to do with them. Not to worry.

Instructables user mattfelice has given us permission to share his project that shows you how to make a high-power solar panel using only broken solar cells. This project is totally adaptable to the amount and size of solar cells you may have on hand, and the best part is that those discarded cells won't become e-waste, but a functional, clean energy-producing solar panel instead.

Mattfelice was able to create a 35 watt solar panel out of 38 0.5-watt polycrystalline cells. Follow along to see what you can make.